Fool's Rescue
by DigiExpert
Summary: She would never forget the day that Aaeru asked that fateful question for it had forced her to face her past, deal with the present, and head toward the future.


**This was the second prompt I took on for the current round on yuri_challenge, a LiveJournal community. This round dealt with proverbs. I was happy to see an Aaeru/Neviril prompt appear, but I had no idea how difficult it would be to write. I'm still not entirely sure the proverb actually exists based on the research I did. If it does, it's very obscure. The proverb to be used was: Never call a man from the country a fool until you're sure he's not an outlaw**.

When she was little and her mother passed away, her father had left her upbringing mostly to the nurse maids he hired. The women cared and nurtured her, teaching her the basics of right and wrong and Tempus Spatium. Later, her care was continued by tutors of all kinds, many who were specialized to help her attend the academy. She had lived a life of privilege, and knew nothing else. The people she was around were all like her. They gave her toys and other gifts, pushed her to become the ideal lady who would represent her widowed father. She made the appearances on breaks from the academy. She was polite and reserved, as ladies around her were brought up to be. She often cared for the children at the gatherings, keeping them from being underfoot. Eventually, graduation had come, and with it a promotion to Sibylla. From there, it was only a matter of time until her selection as the Sibylla Aurea. No matter what, she was with girls who were also high class and came from wealthy backgrounds, girls who had ideals and opinions like her own.

The very first day that she crossed paths with Aaeru, she realized that she had been mistaken in her thought processes. Not every Sibylla was from the same type of background as her it had seemed. Aaeru was an unknown character who came from the country. It was known that she was not of a high birth status, and her only connection to the Sibyllae appeared to be through her grandpa, who had been a member of one of the incarnations of Chor Dextra in his younger years. She was loud, outgoing, and to the point. She was willing to charge forth to get what she wanted, and it always seemed as though she had quite a large dose of stupidity while doing it. Many times Neviril had shaken her head upon hearing the reports of this crude Sibylla. She was not a priestess, and had no need for prayer. She wanted to fight and battle, two reasons that should never come from a Sibylla's mouth, even in a time of war.

She wasn't sure why Aaeru had been so intent on pairing with her. Of course, it was simple to reason that the only reason was because she was the best. After all, she was the Sibylla Aurea, and that meant that she had been hand selected out of dozens of other girls to represent every other priestess. A revered title such as that gave her worshippers, many of whom treated her like a goddess in every manner of the word. Many of these girls were cadets, but full-fledged Sibyllae also looked up to her with respect and awe. Most importantly, they would give her space and room for fear of disturbing or distracting her. She never thought of herself as someone who was steps above the rest, but that didn't mean that her fellow Sibyllae would think the same way. She used to wish they wouldn't treat her so highly. Now, with Aaeru always hot on her trail, she began to wonder why she had ever thought that.

The girl was foolish and Neviril had to admit that she did not trust her. She could not, and would not, especially after the most recent…spectacle. It was the only way to describe the incident. Aaeru had acted like an idiot, and it had shocked Neviril to her core to hear those words tumble unchecked. She could not imagine that the girl would have gone so far as to suggest…dare to suggest that they perform such an action. She wanted to feel angry or upset, but she merely felt drained inside. She ached and hurt and longed for her love, and though she had worked to push down all of those emotions, Aaeru had brought them all to the forefront of her mind once more.

Her eyes were closed in the dusty darkness of the storage room. She knew Paraietta had only acted out of kindness and a willingness to protect her from Aaeru, but she wanted to be around no one. She merely wanted to be left alone with the memories that would not retreat or quit. The memories washed over her one by one, and yet, she could not cry. Even now, in this dark room where things had been stored and forgotten, she could not cry. She feared she would never be able to let go of the memories or the pain that lingered in her heart, no matter how she tried to push it away.

A sound to her left jolted her from her reverie of the past. In shock, she watched as Aaeru's head peeked through the window, soon followed by the rest of her body. Instead of staying away after everything she caused, she continued to press forward and push for something that wasn't there. In fear, Neviril had backed away, not wanting to look at the girl. Her heart beat wildly, and she wished there wasn't a wall behind her. She wished to be as far away as possible. She was only half listening to the words that Aaeru spoke.

When warm hands touched her face, and warm lips pressed to her own, she only felt her heard beating faster. Aaeru was trying to prove something to her, more than likely to herself as well. She wanted to shove the girl away, but sharing a kiss in this fashion brought the memories tumbling back, and for a time, she was sure she was seeing Amuria in front of her. The image flickered quickly and all too soon, she was pulled back to reality when Paraietta dragged Aaeru off of her. Gone was the warm touch and kiss, and she was left feeling empty inside.

Alone. She did not want to be alone. Yet, she did not want Aaeru either. She wanted none of her fellow Chor members. Neviril simply did not know what she wanted. Everyone wanted her to decide and push forward to the future, but she could not bring herself out of the past. She did not want to let go of the threads that still bound her there. She glanced to the ceiling, praying to Tempus Spatium for guidance. What was she supposed to do? Wasn't the Sibylla Aurea supposed to be able to guide others? She could not. How could she when she could not guide herself down the right path?

"You're never going to forget what I did, are you?" asked Aaeru softly. Much time had passed since, and they had been reflecting on their time as Sibyllae, sitting atop a hill. It turned out that eternal maidens had plenty of time for thought and reflection, despite the necessity to learn and adapt to nearly any world they came upon. Neviril had spoken of their time on the Messis and Aaeru's request that one fateful day. At that time, it had served to sever nearly every tie she'd built with the girl to that point.

"It wasn't your shining moment," answered Neviril softly. She knew that if she didn't answer careful that their reminiscing would turn into an argument. She rested her hand on top of Aaeru's, hoping to convey what she could not say through touch.

Aaeru merely looked away. "I know that now. I just wanted you to move forward. That was my goal. I knew that if you and I did it, that we would succeed. I guess now I know that may not have been the truth, but we _did_ eventually complete it together." She pulled her hand away from Neviril's and wrapped both hands around her knees. Her eyes searched out something in the distance.

Neviril decided to continue. "Can you blame me for feeling that way? I was scared of you, and didn't feel as though I could trust you. I know now that you were pulling me out of the hole I'd dug myself into, but not then. All I could be certain of was that you were not an enemy. Even though, there were a few rare moments I was unsure of even that."

"I guess so."

Aaeru did not sound so sure of herself, and Neviril wondered how far the girl would pull away. She had never meant for that. She moved, positioning herself behind Aaeru. Her arms wrapped around the girl's shoulders, pulling her close. Her head lay against Aaeru's, and she took a deep breath. "Everything you did, you had a reason for. You just didn't always go about them with tact. I've always been grateful to you for what you did. If you hadn't forced and been untactful, I don't know how long I would have been stuck in that cycle." She could feel Aaeru relax against her chest and she kissed her cheek.

For a time, there was silence between them. Nothing more needed to be said. The pair had been drawn together through tragedy and the chain of events that had followed. Things had never always gone according to plan, but it was the plan that Tempus Spatium had set forth for the two maidens. The two had been drawn together, a kind of darkness and light at the time, which melded together to create the bond that propelled them through time and space.


End file.
